Adolescents diagnosed with a chronic illness such as type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) face the typical physical and psychosocial challenges associated with adolescence, as well as the additional challenges of having to cope with the daily stressors of living with a chronic illness. In order to explore coping strategies in this population of adolescents, and to compare the constructs with those identified by the Adolescent Coping Scale (ACS), four focus groups were conducted with 13 adolescents with T1DM. The qualitative data was analysed using content analysis and grouped according to the ACS. Prevalent nonproductive coping strategies included Tension Reduction (the use of maladaptive techniques to reduce tension/stress), Ignore the Problem and Keep to Self. Prevalent productive coping strategies included Seek Social Support, Physical Recreation and Seek Relaxing Diversions. The qualitative data not only affirmed the conceptual areas of the ACS for use with adolescents with T1DM, but also highlighted the need to teach coping strategies to adolescents with T1DM to give them an additional skill set to help them better manage the challenges of diabetes.

This research investigates the self-reported perceptions, readiness and psychological wellbeing of 15 male primary school students prior to transitioning to a secondary boarding school (S1) located away from home and family. A mixed-methods approach was used (i.e., online questionnaire and focus group), and findings indicate that while participants were apprehensive about expectations, study and encountering new technology at boarding school, all viewed the impending transition to S1 as a positive opportunity in their educational journey. Participants reported academic motivation and self-regulation above the norm; however, both questionnaire and focus group data indicated their academic self-perception was low. Levels of reported psychological distress were low, with symptoms associated with emotional problems, conduct problems, hyperactivity, peer problems, prosocial behaviour and overall total difficulties all found to be within the normal range. Indicators of life satisfaction and protective factors associated with resilience were similarly found to be within the normal range. Four major themes and eight subthemes emerged from the qualitative data, including: (1) enthusiasm (i.e., confidence, sadness); (2) opportunity (i.e., new experiences and choices, friendships); (3) anchor points (i.e., older siblings, orientation); and (4) expectations (i.e., study, technology). The findings of this study add to the literature encouraging staff in boarding schools to view transition through the lens of the early to mid-adolescence developmental period and the emergence of co-occurring innate psychological needs – in particular, the desire for competence, autonomy and relatedness. Strengths and limitations of this study are presented.

This paper reports on recently completed research which explores the key question of whether public child protection practice requires a vision embedded in family empowerment. The principle objective of the study was to promote our understanding of the experiences families have with child protection services. The project progressed in two different phases. In phase one, a qualitative in-depth interviewing method was applied to explore the experiences and views of the families. The findings were then thematically analysed through a critical theoretical process. For the second phase, we developed an empowerment framework to analyse and map the key themes from the findings, which outlines the families’ difficulties to engage with, and their alienation from, the services in all stages of interventions. The mapping outcomes indicate a link between the process of empowering the families and the process of improving the child protection service.

Some commentators have pointed to the United Kingdom (UK) having a tendency towards reducing ‘new’ concepts or practices so much that they bear little resemblance to the original form. This is why I wish to highlight in this article some of the sometimes subtle, yet profound, differences in a social pedagogical approach to child care in order to better understand the potential of social pedagogy for developing practice. There are five main sections to this article: first, I describe social pedagogy and a conceptualisation of a social pedagogical approach; second, the UK context is examined so as to set the scene for the third, fourth and fifth sections, which examine reflection, relationships and the concept of lifespace through a social pedagogic lens, drawing links to existing good practice in the UK. Although this commentary does not discuss Australian practice, I believe there are some important aspects in the way in which the UK has tried to familiarise itself with social pedagogy that can help Australian readers to better understand some of the subtleties and nuances of the paradigm and inspire their own reflections.

This brief report investigated coping strategies and their perceived effectiveness in response to a social stressor for 7–12 year olds with high-functioning autism spectrum disorders (HFASDs). Ninety-eight participants completed a self-report coping scale in response to a self-identified socially stressful situation. Responses yielded three categories of use and perceived effectiveness: (1) strategies used frequently and viewed as effective, (2) strategies not used frequently and not perceived as effective, and (3) strategies used frequently but not perceived as effective. Respondents reported high frequency use and high perceived effectiveness of six strategies that are generally considered as positive/engagement oriented coping. They also indicated low frequency use and low perceived effectiveness of five strategies broadly regarded as negative and avoidant/disengagement coping. The last cluster of four strategies, identified as frequently used but not effective, consisted of strategies less clearly categorised as positive/engaged vs. negative/disengaged. Implications for future research and clinical considerations are proposed.

Foster care is in crisis in most western countries, including Australia. Increasing numbers of children are being placed in out-of-home care at a younger age due to arange of issues, including parental substance abuse.

Mirror Families is an early intervention model which seeks to address the underlying causes of the foster care crisis. It supports positive, lifelong outcomes for vulnerable children and young people who are at risk of being placed outside their birth families or who are already in kinship, foster and permanent care.

This paper focuses on how a ‘village’, or extended family, can be created for each child so that lifelong (and beyond) supportive relationships can be established and nurtured. The key question which informs the model is: ‘Who will be therefor the grandchildren?’

This paper argues that having child-centred policy is not the straightforward matter it might seem. After presenting some historical snap-shots to demonstrate that children have frequently been the victims of policies aimed at addressing needs or perceived problems which are not child-centred, the author argues that contemporary policies frequently leave out significant variables, and the impact of culture is one of these. Focusing on the Australian-Asian region, the author notes the dominance of family and community over individual rights in many countries in our region. The likelihood is that family and children's services in Asian countries will conceptualise services to families and children in non-western ways, in spite of the fact that the principles underlying child protection which they espouse are frequently western in orientation (that is, they have a child's rights focus). Using these insights as a lens through which to look back at Australia, it is possible to see Australia as having ‘cultural’ traditions which also value family and community over the rights of children. It is argued in conclusion that future policy needs to take such realities more firmly into account, and given the increasing presence of and influence of cultures with a family-centred focus in Australia, greater attention also is needed to our international context.

There is sparse research on playgroups for fathers, therefore, the benefits of such programmes are difficult to discern. However, there is much research on the positive developmental outcomes children experience with involved fathers (Appl, Brown, & Stone, 2008; Evans, Harrison, Rempel, & Slater, 2006; Green, 2003; Rosenberg & Wilcox, 2006). This research focused on a Dad's playgroup run as part of the Communities for Children Logan Project in south-east Queensland, Australia. The research found that the fathers gained positive results as being a part of the playgroup, including improved family functioning, a feeling of belonging to a community in which advice was freely available, improved relationships with their child/children and feelings that this programme met the unique needs of fathers when others in the community have not. These needs were met through the play environment, scheduling, staffing and support networks.

While it is universally accepted that residential child care workers have a key role to play in the quality of services for children in care, the working conditions of many staff are poor and do not reflect the importance of their work. Very little research has been undertaken which focuses on the needs of residential child care staff. The following study examined the factors affecting the job satisfaction of residential child care workers in Melbourne, Australia.

This qualitative study used a narrative approach to address the vulnerabilities and problems experienced by the children of sex workers in Iran. A purposive sample of women who were referred to drop-in centres were invited to take part in semi-structured interviews. An analysis of the data identified 8 main themes and 12 sub-themes, most of which related to risks and harm being perpetrated on the children of sex workers. The main risk to these children was the likelihood that they would escape from home and become sex workers themselves. Also identified as problematic was the risk of child labour, becoming members of offending groups and becoming a member of a brothel.

Paying attention to under-represented voices is considered by some researchers to be one of the current critical issues in child welfare (Kufeldt & McKenzie 2003; Mason & Gibson 2004). Children and young people in care have often been the targets of public policy, the subjects of research projects and the focus of practice that is aimed at protecting them, but not necessarily involving them. Is there really a preparedness to invite children and young people to have a say? Do adults and professionals rather presume to know what is best? Children and young people have much to offer researchers and policy makers by giving their opinions and expressing their views about a range of matters that concern them. This paper will discuss a Department of Families' initiative in the Mackay Whitsunday Region that invites children and young people to be part of the community of practice. It will showcase the successful positioning of eight to ten young people within the research, practice and policy agenda, and outline a vision to champion children and young people's participation at a community practice level throughout Australia. It will explore the journey of placing the voice of children and young people at the centre of the child protection system.

Schools and teachers are increasingly seen to be an integral part of the welfare system and are expected to cope with very challenging children, many of whom are in residential or alternative family care. The longitudinal action-oriented research which is described in this article, highlighted the joys and difficulties which teachers face in supporting these children and their foster, permanent care and adoptive parents. Themes of role, power, control and support in the teachers’ accounts are explored and three implications for practice are suggested.

Caring is the central activity for many women who care for children with disabilities and other dependent relatives and it circumscribes virtually all of the other activities they carry out. This paper will compare the daily experiences of such women (who have been participants in the author’s recent research into home-based care) with what has been written in social work literature about women who ‘care’.

This paper examines the way the state welfare system deals with young women who are subject to statutory orders and their need for support as they move towards independence. Young women’s views of their needs are highlighted. Evidence is drawn from the author’s and other relevant Australian and overseas research. The issues are examined within the context of general community trends and policy and practice implications are studied using Community Services Victoria as a case example.

A variety of social and economic factors are leading to young people in the general community living with their parents for longer periods of time. In contrast, young people subject to statutory orders, especially young women, are often being discharged from these orders - and thus isolated from adult guidance - shortly after they pass their mid-teens.

Assumptions about these young women’s needs - that they no longer require nor wish for support and are ready for complete independence at this early age - are challenged. The legal, organisational and practice constraints which reinforce these assumptions are analysed. The apparent contradiction arising from young women refusing services which they also say they require, is also discussed.

The author demonstrates that there is a need for a reconceptualisation of the issue. A new kind of partnership between workers and young women on statutory orders is needed and a policy and administrative framework which facilitates this. The implications of the findings for practice and policy - and especially the important contribution ttiat young women’s views can make to the development of social policy - are presented.

The nature and extent of parent education and support programs targeting parents with children under five is reviewed. Several evaluated Australian and overseas programs are described, and their role and effectiveness in the prevention of child abuse and neglect are examined. The principles and values that underpin such programs are discussed, and their common components outlined. The New Parent Infant Network (NEWPIN) is then situated in the broader framework of effective parent education and support programs operating in Australia.

A number of key authors maintain sibling relationships are absolutely crucial when considering out-of-home care options, while policy derived from theory and practice must guarantee that the best interests of the child(ren) are taken into account. Furthermore, placing siblings together is most likely to be a protective factor against placement breakdown. This being the case, care plans should focus on ensuring sibling connectedness and the maintenance of emotional bonds into adulthood.

This paper discusses current out-of-home care policy and practice in Western Australia which incorporates research from (1) attachment theory, (2) family structure, (3) cultural diversity, (4) development, (5) contact, (6) care planning, and (7) long-term care to provide guidance when considering siblings entering the out-of-home care system. The authors contend that this approach improves decision making practice and is consistent with new legislation — the Children and Community Services Act 2004, which is expected to be introduced in Western Australia on 1 March 2006, and which has as its underlying principle the best interests of the child.

Foster care has been available in Australia for almost 150 years. Carers have long been recognised as “the ultimate volunteers” who care for the most traumatised, emotionally disturbed children in the nation. Given that they provide the foundation stone of the child protection system, one might expect carers to be supported and valued. Numerous studies have shown otherwise. Warning signs over the years have been ignored by child welfare authorities resulting in carers leaving the service faster than they could be recruited and the most needy young children being placed in caravan parks, cheap motels and group homes supervised by occasional, inadequately trained, generalist carers employed on seven hour contracts by agencies.